Backman, Little Named Walter Brown Semi-Finalists

Sean Backman.

Feb 03, 2010

BULLDOGS VYING FOR NEW ENGLAND MVP

BOSTON, Mass. - Sean Backman (in photo)
and Broc Little, two members of the No. 8 ranked Yale men's hockey
team, have been named among the 16 semi-finalists for the
58th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best
American-born college hockey player in New England by the Gridiron
Club of Greater Boston.

The candidates include 11 from Hockey East,
three from ECAC
Hockey and two from Atlantic
Hockey. There are 11 forwards, four defensemen and one
goalie. Five teams - Yale, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Boston
University and Boston College - each have two nominees.

Backman (Cos Cob, Conn.), a senior who has 13 goals and 22
points this winter, has earned some type of all-conference honors
each season at Yale. He has 69 career goals and 113 career points
in 114 games. Little (Rindge, N.H.) has a team-high 15 goals and
ranks fifth in Division I with .71 goals per game. He led the
nation with five shorthanded goals last season as a sophomore and
has 41 career goals and 80 points in 82 games.

Backman, Massachusetts junior James
Marcou,(Kings Park, N.Y.) and UMass-Lowell senior
Kory
Falite (Billerica, Mass.), all forwards, were
semifinalists for last year's award won by Boston University's Matt
Gilroy. Marcou, who currently leads the nation in scoring with 40
points in 28 games, was also in the running two years ago as a
freshman.

"The balance and competitiveness we've seen throughout college
hockey in the East this year has been superb, and that balance was
especially evident during the process of nomination and evaluation
for the Walter Brown Award," remarked Gridiron Club Hockey Awards
Committee chairman Tim Costello.

The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the
58th Walter Brown Award in March, following league
playoffs and before the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Walter Brown Award Winners

1953 Ray
Picard
Northeastern

1954 Bob
Babine Boston
College

1955 Bill
Cleary
Harvard

1956 R.J.
Cavanaugh Northeastern

1957 Bob
Cleary
Harvard

1958 Bob
Cleary
Harvard

1959 Mike
Karin
Middlebury

1960 Art
Chisholm Northeastern

1961 Tom
Martin Boston
College

1962 Dave
Grannis Harvard

1963 Bill
Hogan
Boston College

1964 Richie
Green Boston
University

1965 Bob
Gaudreau Brown

1966 John
Cunniff Boston College

1967 Jerry
York
Boston College

1968 Tim
Sheehy Boston
College

1969 Paul
Hurley
Boston College

1970 Tim Sheehy
Boston College

1971 Joe
Cavanagh Harvard

1972 Bob
McManama
Harvard

1973 Tom
Mellor
Boston College

1974 Ed
Walsh
Boston University

1975 Ron
Wilson
Providence

1976 Richie
Smith Boston
College

1977 Bob
Miller
New Hampshire

1978 Joe
Mullen
Boston College

1979 Ralph
Cox
New Hampshire

1980 Bill
Army
Boston College

1981 Mark
Switaj Boston
College

1982 Chuck
Marshall Northeastern

1983 Mark
Fusco Harvard

1984 Cleon
Daskalakis
Boston University

1985 Tim
Army
Providence

1986 Scott
Fusco
Harvard

Scott Harlow Boston
College

1987 Brian
Leetch Boston
College

1988 Mike
McHugh Maine

1989 Lane
MacDonald
Harvard

1990 Greg
Brown
Boston College

1991 Dave
Emma Boston College

1992 Rob
Gaudreau Providence

1993 Dave
Sacco Boston
University

1994 Jacques
Joubert Boston University

1995 Mike
Grier
Boston University

1996 Jay
Pandolfo Boston
University

1997 Chris
Drury
Boston University

1998 Chris
Drury
Boston University

1999 Mike
Mottau Boston College

Mike Omicioli Providence

2000 Mike
Mottau Boston College

2001 Ty
Conklin
New Hampshire

Brian Gionta Boston
College

2002 Jim
Fahey
Northeastern

2003 Mike
Ayers
New Hampshire

2004 Steve
Saviano New Hampshire

2005 Dov Grumet-Morris
Harvard

2006 Chris Collins Boston
College

2007 John Curry Boston
University

2008 Kevin Regan New
Hampshire

2009 Matt Gilroy Boston
University

The Walter Brown Award

Commemorating the life and works of America's greatest
sportsman, the Walter Brown Award is given annually to the
outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England. The
Walter Brown Award is the oldest nationally recognized honor
accorded to individual players in the sport of American college
hockey. Brown coached the United States to its first world
hockey championship in 1933. The U.S. team, the Massachusetts
Rangers, comprised players from Boston College, Boston University,
Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, and Boston Commerce High
School. The Americans defeated the Toronto National Sea Fleas,
coached by Harold Ballard, 2-1 in overtime in the final game of the
1933 World Tournament at Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was also
America's first win over a team from Canada and the first loss ever
suffered by the Canadians in international play. The U.S. team
members established the Walter Brown award at their 20th reunion in
1953. Criteria for the selection committee include
leadership, character, sportsmanship, and ability as well as on-ice
achievement. The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has been the
steward of the Walter Brown Award since 1977.